Tiling News

The latest news for tilers and the tiling industry


October 22, 2008

Trades people

Please note that place 4 trades has now operated as a trade advertising site for well over 3 years. 

If you would like to advertise your business, email us sales@place4.co.uk the place to find your skilled trade’s people and trade suppliers.

Less than £1 per week will place your business in front of thousands of customers every week, in any one county.

We are committed to placing you at the forefront of quality customers.

Be found today and every day at place 4 Find trades people and trade suppliers here

Find at place 4

Trade training courses
Tilers
Plumbers
plasterers
All trades
Trade suppliers
Kitchen suppliers
Bathroom suppliers
Trade forums
Decorators
Handymen
Restoration specialists
And so on

Find all your trade requirements at place 4

Call us on 01782 566166

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October 16, 2008

Tiling Adhesive

Filed under: Tile Adhesive — Riley's @ 8:22 pm

Question sent in to Riley’s Tiling Tips

Question

I am interested in tiling but am not a not a professional tiler. I have seen the adhesives used and most include a “polymer”. What is a polymer and what does it do?

Riley’s Answer

Hi hope you are well and thank you for asking your question here at Riley’s Tiling Tips.      

A polymer is a long, repeating organic chain, formed through the linkage of
many identical smaller molecules called monomers.

The term polymer covers a large, diverse group of molecules, including
substances from proteins to high-strength kevlar fibres. A key feature that
distinguishes polymers from other large molecules is the repetition of units
of atoms (monomers) in their chains. This occurs during polymerization, in
which many identical monomer molecules link to each other. For example, the
formation of polyethene involves thousands of ethene molecules bonding
together to form a chain of repeating -CH2- units.

Because polymers are distinguished by their constituent monomers, polymer
chains within a substance are often not of equal length. This is unlike
other molecules in which every atom is acounted for, each molecule having a
set molecular mass. Differing chain lengths occur because polymer chains
terminate during polymerization after random intervals of chain lengthening
(propagation).

Proteins are polymers of amino acids. From a dozen to some hundred of the
(about) 20 different monomers form the chain, the sequence of monomers
determining the shape and activity of the final protein. But there are
active regions, surrounded by, as it believed now (Aug 2003), structural
regions, whose sole role is to expose the active region(s) (there may be
more than one on a given protein). So the absolute sequence of amino acids
is not important, as long as the active regions are expressed (being
accessible from the outside) properly. Also, whereas the formation of
polyethylene occurs spontaneously given the right conditions, the
manufacture of biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids requires the
help of catalysts (substances that facilitate or accelerate reactions.)
Since the 1950s, catalysts have also revolutionised the development of
synthetic polymers. By allowing more careful control over polymerization
reactions, polymers with new properties, such as the ability to emit
coloured light, have been manufactured.

Therefore for a tiling adhesive or grout the polymer will surround the cement ball in plastic reducing water permeability, allowing the rigid cement to flex and also increasing the overall adhesion when bonding ceramics to none porous surfaces etc so polymer is such an important player in many industries but very much in need where ceramics are involved.
www.trades-direct.co.uk

Tiling Walls, Background Preparation

Filed under: Tiling courses, Wall and Floor Tiling, Tile Adhesive — Riley's @ 4:23 pm

Tiling Walls

Background Preparation

Walls to be tiled

After many years running tiling training courses “well 22 years as a matter of fact” I have heard many delegates say I am attending a plastering course soon to help out with background preparation when I’m tiling.

This is not a necessary skill for a tile fixer, there is nothing wrong with multi-skilled trade’s people but as I said it is not an “absolute” to your skill base.

The reason plastering is no great benefit to a practising tile fixer is the overall weakness of plaster finishes and slow dry/cure times.

If the wall you are about to tile is both un-even with lumps, bumps and hollows the fastest route would be to make good using a rapid setting tile adhesive, thus allowing tiling to proceed in just a few hours rather than the normal four week wait for plaster to cure and be sufficiently strong enough to carry the weight of the tiles.

Bearing in mind that fully cured plaster will only support 20 kg per square metre in weight where plasterboard will carry 32 kg, however modern building techniques still adopt the dry lining (dot & dab) method using plasterboard then skim finishing the boards with plaster before tiling takes place.

Plaster finish and weight of tiles was never such an issue in this country when your British tile shops stocked 150 mm x 150 mm tiles in the main,  these tiles would only weigh some 15 kg including the weight of adhesive & grout. These days wall & floor tiles are leaving tile shop doors with only four tiles to the box weighing in at 30 kg before we even get them in the car boot “holding on to your aching back” therefore we really do need look hard at how we prepare our bathroom walls before hanging a potential disaster over the family’s naked body soaking in the bath.

Back to the preparation if walls are un-even and assuming the plaster background is a finish plaster and NOT bonding plaster. We can first prime the plaster using a product with properties like BALs (APD prime) but never PVA, “why you may ask” PVA will break down in water and as the tiling products are all water based we do not want a built in disaster.

Once primed and dry after 30 minutes (approx) we can take a suitable length straight edge “ideally an aluminium one” and place it against the wall to be prepared in all directions vertically, horizontally and diagonally you will start to see lumps and hollows that are better corrected at the preparation stage rather than using lashings of adhesive during the tiling project.

I always think that the removal of bumps makes sense rather than building out the rest of the wall to meet the point of the bumps in the wall.

If you choose to remove these humps and bumps by taking your hammer and chisel to the wall think what could be the outcome, the finish plaster and the newly applied primer will be chopped away leaving a dusty un-primed plaster backing maybe even the bonding plaster could present itself to you, and as mentioned earlier this is not a good background for tiles.

That said you may opt for the building out process, bringing the hollows level with the tip of the humps and bumps, if this is the case start by holding the straight edge in all directions and marking the low areas using a pencil draw circles to show where the hollows are, once you have identified these areas it’s now time to mix a small quantity of rapid setting tile adhesive and apply with a flat trowel inside the circles you marked and fill the area out by the depth required.

Once all areas have been filled sufficiently take the straight edge and moving it back and forth across the filled areas you may take some of the filling off if you have applied more than was necessary, don’t worry if this is the case as even a professional would apply more, then allow the straight edge guide the flatness your looking for.

You may need to follow this procedure two or three times to give you a flat background to receive your tiles.

Once you feel happy with your efforts allow the rapid set adhesive to dry (normally two to three hours) now the wall is ready for tiling, trowel adhesive either a dispersion adhesive (ready mixed) or continue using a cement based as the wall was protected with primer allowing you to use the adhesive of your choice without risk of ettringite formation in other words the growth of crystals this occurs when un-primed plaster and cement based adhesive meet.

If the tiles to be fixed are large tiles say 300mm x 300mm or greater these fall in to the category of large format tiles and will require a thick bed of adhesive this means that the adhesive choice must only be a cement based adhesive, cement based adhesive can dry and cure even at bed depths of 12 mm in isolated areas where your ready mixed bucket adhesives are restricted to a maximum bad depth of 3 mm thus not allowing us this option.

If Riley’s tiling tips service can help your tiling project further please feel free in asking your questions by email paul@professional-itt.com.

The products mentioned in this edition of Riley’s tiling tips are available by clicking the web site below.

www.trades-direct.co.uk

Trades direct offers you a helpline before you buy your tiling products, call between 8-00 am and 9-00 pm 7 days for professional help on 01782 566166     

Visit Tiling News again soon for more of Riley’s Tiling Tips.

BAL Glass Block Adhesive

Filed under: Tile Adhesive — Riley's @ 2:03 pm

BAL Glass Block Adhesive

Adhesive Mortar

USE FOR:

  • construction of glass block walls
  • bed depths from 3-25mm
  • domestic and communal showers
  • dry/wet - interior/exterior

POT LIFE AT 20°C: 4 hours

GROUT AFTER: 16 hours

COLOUR: White

 

  • High density compactability
  • Cures in 24 hours
  • Water/frost-resistant
  • with JOINTS: 5mm 10mm 15mm
    SIZE: 20kg 1.25m² 0.9m² 0.7m²
    Using 190×190x80mm glass blocks

     

    Call our technical help line for more information on 01782 566166

    www.trades-direct.co.uk

     

     

    BAL epoxy LV

    Filed under: Tile Adhesive — Riley's @ 1:57 pm

    BAL epoxy LV

    RG1 Hygienic Waterproof Tile Grout for Floors

    JOINTS: up to 20mm

    USE FOR:

    • most tile types - dry/wet - interior/exterior
    • large installations including: supermarkets/malls/swimming pools/sports centres/food preparation plants/hospitals/industrial plants

    POT LIFE AT 20°C: 60 minutes

    CURES IN: 24 hours

    COLOUR: Grey

  • Hygienic
  • Chemical-resistant
  • Also suitable as high performance adhesive for ceramic tiles
  •  

    TILE SIZES: 200×200x9mm 300×300x9mm
    with JOINT WIDTH: 3mm 3mm
    SIZE: 10kg 22.9m² 34.0m²

     

    Next day delivery

    www.trades-direct.co.uk

    Call our FREE technical help line from 8-00 am to 9-00 pm 7 days on 01782 566166 

    BAL acousti-bond

    Filed under: Tile Adhesive — Riley's @ 1:52 pm

    BAL acousti-bond

     

    C1FS2 Tile Adhesive for Floors

    USE FOR:

    • improving tiled floor sound-reduction
    • most tile types, including porcelain
    • dry - interior

    POT LIFE AT 20°C: 35 minutes

    GROUT AFTER: 5 hours

    COLOUR: Grey

    • Contributes to Building Regulations Part E compliance
    • Highly flexible
    • Use with approved matting system
    TROWEL TYPE: Solid bed tipped
    SIZE: 7.5kg 2.5m²

     

    Find the product here at

    www.trades-direct.co.uk

    Next day delivery and FREE technical help line open from 8-00 am to 9-00 pm 7 days on 01782 566166

    October 14, 2008

    Mapei Tiling Forum

    Filed under: Tile care, General, Tile Adhesive — Riley's @ 2:47 pm

    Mapei have their own forum as part of the UKs leading tile forums.

    www.tileforums.com

    About Mapei

     

    A look at Mapei from its humble beginnings as a small company on the outskirts of Milan to its current position as a world-leading multinational specialising in adhesives and chemical products for the building industry.

    Founded in 1937 in Milan, Mapei is the world’s largest manufacturer of adhesives for the construction industry. Over the past 70 years Mapei has initiated an internationalisation strategy to include manufacturing facilities all around the world ensuring local needs for all customers and reducing transportation costs.

    The group consists of 51 associated companies including 47 production facilities worldwide across 5 continents and 23 countries

    In addition Mapei has invested significantly in research and development in order to both produce the most technically advanced materials and to meet with safety standards and regulations for individual countries and provide professional technical assistance and consultation for construction professionals worldwide.

     

    Established in 1989 in Middlesbrough Mapei UK Ltd moved to the West Midlands in 1999, and in 2004 cemented its commitment to the UK market with the completion of a brand new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Halesowen, West Midlands.

    The UK headquarters is Mapei’s 47th manufacturing plant worldwide. The building accommodates manufacturing, stock, marketing, sales and technical services - all dedicated to the provision of efficient and friendly customer service - all under one roof. This 7.5 acre site is home to on-site training facilities, holding regular training and educational sessions.

    Manufacturing facilities at Halesowen are capable of producing up to 103,000 tonnes of product annually. We now have 111 members of staff employed by Mapei UK to provide support and assistance to an ever increasing customer base of over 500.

    Special Events and Updates

    OLYMPIC PERFORMANCES FROM MAPEI

    The Aquatic Centre in Atlanta; the Athletes’ Village in Sydney; the Velodrome in Athens; just a few of the many Olympic facilities and structures where, since the 1950s, Mapei’s products have been used. And this year is no exception; once again their high quality, top performance ranges have been chosen for the Beijing Olympics 2008.

    Whether it be ceramic, porcelain or stone tiles, for covering floors or walls of hotels, stadia, airports or swimming pools, Mapei’s fixing and grouting products have also long been used; the Media Village in Athens and the Olympic Village in Turin are just some examples. This year, porcelain tiles in an indoor swimming pool have been fixed using Granirapid, an adhesive with extraordinary bonding and fast setting properties. The tile joints have been grouted with Keracolor GG in White, mixed with the liquid polymeric additive, Fugolastic, to improve flexibility and reduce porosity and water absorption and achieve the right resistance even under severe conditions of use.

    The swimming pool, which has been built as a leisure facility for competitors, is part of Beijing’s ‘Shooting Range’ venue and it is here where 1,400 m2 of indoor tennis courts can also be found. Mapei Ultraplan an ultra-fast hardening self-levelling compound for 1-10 mm has been used to obtain a perfectly flat substrate, able to receive four coats of Deco Turf flooring.

    With its comprehensive range of products, its technical assistance and commitment to research and development, it is no wonder that Mapei continues to give winning performances at the Olympic Games.

    The new Mapei brochure ‘Mapei and Sports Facilities around the World’ is now available on request.

    Mapei is the world’s largest manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and chemical products for building. With over 70 years experience, Mapei is a specialist in the production of quality products for the installation of all types of wall and floor coverings, and has a vast range of admixtures and repair products for concrete and building materials.
    For further information on Mapei products call 0121 508 6970 or visit www.mapei.co.uk.

    Mapei product range is available from

    www.trades-direct.co.uk

    Next day delivery service, trade and public welcome call 01782 566166  

    October 10, 2008

    Tiling News

    Tiling News

    Find a tiler

    Find a tradesman here at www.place4trades.co.uk

    All the trades people found here are skilled people and most will be professionally trained at PITT tiling course centre www.professional-itt.com

    At www.place4trades.co.uk you will find tile fixers from many areas across the UK.

    If you contact your trades person via place4trades tell them you found them here at tiling news.

    We also welcome comments about the trades person you used for that ever important tiling project.

    Thank You for visiting Tiling News and we hope to see you here again soon.

    http://www.place4trades.co.uk    

     

    Tiling News

    Tiling News

    Tiling news is a tiling news web site where you can learn so much without leaving the house.

    At tiling news you will find many news items related to tiling, tiles and the tiling industry.

    We at tiling news have many featurs like Riley’s tiling tips, manufacturers news on new products, and much more.

    If you have questions to ask about tiles or tiling then mail paul@professional-itt.com

    Visit again soon to read the latest tiling news available on the net.

     

    Tile Forums

    Tilers forum, Tiling forum, Tile forum, Tilers forums, Tiling forums, Tile forums.

    Tile forums - for tiling tips, tiling chat, and tiling advice.
    For the professional, non-professional and DIY enthusiast. It’s FREE TO JOIN!

    Tile forums - for tiling tips, tiling chat, and tiling advice.
    Tile Forums where both the DIY and true professional can join in harmony to enjoy a wealth of knowledge, help and advice.

    Tile Forums has operated for some five years and welcomes over four thousand members with a staggering seventy thousand posts full of valuable tile and tiling content.

    The Tile Forum is fully supported by many companies who form part of the tiling industry.

    Support can range from specialist people from manufacturing plants to financial support that helps in the running and advertising of the Tile Forums.

    Financial Support Companies
     

    Pitt Ltd (Training in ceramic and natural stone tiling)

    www.professional-itt.com

    Trades Direct (Distributors and suppliers of tiling products)

    www.trades-direct.co.uk

    Mapei UK (Manufacturers of quality tile adhesive & grouts)

    www.mapei.co.uk

    Magnum (Suppliers of quality under floor heating)

    www.trades-direct.co.uk

    Aquamix tile and stone care (Suppliers of water based tile care products)

    www.tilestonesolutions.co.uk

    Bars-by-Design (Builders of tiled Home Bars)

    www.bars-by-design.co.uk

    Tile & Stone Journal (producers of an industry magazine)

    www.tileandstonejournal.com

    Tile and Stone Journal (TSJ) is dedicated to providing information, analysis and inspiration to all sectors of the tile and stone industry in the UK and Ireland. The editorial blend accurately reflects the differing, yet complementary, information needs of retailers, fixers, distributors, agents, specifiers and manufacturers.
     

    Through the pages of TSJ, readers will be kept up-to-date with global developments in the industry, through company and national profiles and informed reports from all over the world’s major ceramic tiling exhibitors, including Cersaie, Cevisama, and
    Coverings.
     

    TSJ is the official magazine of the Tile Association and is sent to every TTA member as a benefit of membership.
     

    Tile Forums comprises of many forum sections:

    Tiling Forum

    The Professional’s Chat Forum

    General Discussion Forum

    Mapei Forum

    PITT Tiling & Plumbing Courses Forum

    Trades-Direct Tiling Products Forum

    Pro-ITT in partnership with Aqua Mix natural stone forum

    Plumbing Forum Corgi

    United Tilers Forum

    Quoting Forum

    PITT Forums

    Editorials and Articles Forum

    The Tile Association Forum

    Tile Related Topic’s Forum

    Tile Adhesive & Grout Forum

    Under Floor Heating Forum

    Other Forums Forum

    Tile Forums also has a team of moderators who are long serving on Tile Forums. A very professional team to help keep the Tile Forum free of un-wanted language to allow you the user to be open and free to leave the Tile Forums live on screen while you are away from your P.C.

    Tile Forums welcomes some two thousand visitors per day logged on as guests. We would always encourage all guests to register to become a member; you can join Tile Forums in just one minute and enjoy the benefit of asking questions and receiving answers normally within a few minutes.

    Tile Forums is advertised in many tile industry magazines along with newspaper adverts and some DIY programs aired on T.V. will offer details on their web sites ensuring you the DIYer can find and enjoy the Tile Forums.

    Tile Forums encourages few adverts on the forum pages as we feel adverts stacked in and around the main pages can detract from the real content.

    The Tile Forums has numerous experts available many hours each and every day, these experts offer help and advice and they are not paid a penny for their commitment to the Tile Forums, they are just very technical people who are devoted to the tile industry.

    All members on the Tile Forums are real people who have registered and joined therefore the Tile Forum is very realistic not a site of fiction.

    Tile Forums moderators & owners would chose fifty quality members rather than five hundred none quality members, we work hard to keep the Tile Forums full of factual information and low on peoples opinions.

    The world is full of opinions that tend to change when they are introduced to facts.

    Tile Forums owners are excited to announce the building of a new forum to replace the present Tile Forums, don’t worry anybody! All the past posts will still be available, we just feel there are better forums available now we are five years old, we expect a change over during the night in the first quarter of 2009 so avoiding any disruption to you the user.

    If you have any idea’s you would like to put forward on how to make the Tile Forums more exciting than it already is then mail your ideas to paul@professional-itt.com

    The Tile Forums was reviewed some months ago, read below their findings; the review was carried out by the Tiler Register www.tilerregister.co.uk

    This is their conclusion
     

       

    Over the last few weeks we’ve been using a number of forums to assess which tile forum offers the best experience for the professional tiler. Admittedly there aren’t that many tile forums out there, but if you are going to invest your time and effort in using a forum to either learn something new or offer advice to others, you have to ensure you picked the right one.

    Tileforums.com recommended by UK Tiler Register

    Over the last few weeks we’ve been using a number of forums to assess which tile forum offers the best experience for the professional tiler. Admittedly there aren’t that many tile forums out there, but if you are going to invest your time and effort in using a forum to either learn something new or offer advice to others, you have to ensure you picked the right one.To establish which forum was suitable for our recommendation, we had to ensure the said forum met certain criteria. Fancy features were not at the top of our requirements, neither was the graphical look of the forum but the following points were essential to determining the best tile forum for UK tilers.

    • Quality of advice and guidance
    • Professionally moderated boards
    • Unbiased opinions
    • Data and personal information security
    • Site stability and response speed
    • Overall user and visitor experience

    Time and again we kept returning to the same forum for more than the criteria listed above, but for a while there was a potential contender. This contender was naturally removed from the running when we noticed threads which publicly slandered a member who had recently been banned, allowing the thread to go so far to publicly name the member and his address along with unsubstantiated claims. These claims were also mirrored on an associated blog. Please note that whilst the thread and blog post have been removed, the damage and defamation of the ex-member in question has already been done. Copies of the aforementioned threads/blog are available to interested parties.So that left a sole runner in the tile forum arena the Tile Forums run by the Professional-ITT training centre. We arranged to meet with the system administrators of the Tile Forums to discuss data security and site stability which we felt was sorely lacking on the other sites. Right from the start we were impressed with the professionalism of the staff and the dedication involved in maintaining the forums quality.So to conclude, we found the forum run by Professional-ITT to be the best overall forum experience for tilers, with exceptionally good advice and guidance. Keen moderation and an overall the members of the board are highly commendable for their professional approach.

    Admittedly some may criticise the board for promoting their own products and courses, but surely that makes perfect sense was they’re ensuring that their company, forum and staff promote products that they believe are the best they can and products they believe in. This is a far more professional situation than a board that sells advertising to the highest bidder with no control over the quality of the products or courses offered.

    Once again thank you for the kind hospitality offered to us by the Professional-ITT Tile Training Course staff.

    Find their site page by clicking the link below.

    http://www.tilerregister.co.uk/tiler-tiling-news_files/tile-forums-reviews.html

    Thank you for taking the time and showing interest in Tile Forums, we all look forward in reading your questions and following up with some fantastic professional answers.

    Many people have saved large amounts of cash through taking the time reading how to do the job correctly, will you be joining them? The biggest Tile Forums in the United Kingdom.

    www.tileforums.com

    For the professional, non-professional and DIY enthusiast. It’s Tile Forums 

    BAL Adhesives, Grout, Levelling Compounds

    Filed under: Tile care, Tile Adhesive — Riley's @ 9:50 am

    October 9, 2008

    Building Adhesives re-branding

    Filed under: General, Wall and Floor Tiling, Tile Adhesive — Riley's @ 4:51 pm

     Attached Image

    BAL, the leading brand of professional tiling adhesives and grouts, offers an unrivalled range of products for all tiling applications. It is the preferred choice of professional tile fixers, contractors and specifiers. Whatever the tile material, background or function of the tiled environment, a BAL solution can be trusted for quality and lasting performance.

    Attached Image

    See why everyone’s talking about BAL!

    As the adhesives and grouts leader nears its half-century, BAL’s new look is appearing everywhere from advertising to packaging.

    Visit your local BAL distributor to see how every sack, tub and bottle features the new design. Now, you will find it easier than ever to find all the facts you need quickly.

    We don’t take for granted being the industry’s most familiar, most trusted brand. Continuous product innovation and development since 1962 gives BAL a long heritage of leadership. This, combined with a youthful approach, is summed up by the exciting new look.

    Building Adhesives specialises in the development, manufacture and distribution of ceramic tile adhesives, grouts, silicone sealants and ancillary products for a wide range of applications.

    Founded in 1962 as a development centre for the British ceramic tile industry, the Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ardex GmbH, Germany. Its main activities are based in Stoke-on-Trent in the UK. The UK activities comprise R&D facilities, administrative centre and UK manufacturing activities.

    Products are sold under the BAL and Dunlop brands. BAL is the leading authority in the UK professional tiling market and renowned for its stringent product quality and excellent technical and training services, whilst Dunlop offers a comprehensive range of tiling products for a wide spectrum of building and DIY applications.

    Backed by 40 years experience and supported by the global resources of the Ardex Group, the Company is committed to continuous product innovation and development programmes.

    Whatever your needs are in tiling please contact us for timely and professional assistance.

    www.trades-direct.co.uk

    Call us for FREE help from 8-00 am to 9-00 pm 7 days on 01782 566166